Welcome, I'll be writing about the History of The South from the Colonial Era to the Present. I'm a Historian and Genealogist, as well as the Author of the popular bilingual "Rosales' History of The South" Newspaper Column and Radio Show and also the Author of various books and articles dealing with Southern History and Genealogy. I will be happy to assist you in finding your Southern, Confederate or Hispanic Ancestors, so feel free to email me at HistoryofTheSouth@Yahoo.Com

The Eslava family originated in Alabama, with Miguel Deciderio Eslava (born July 10th, 1740, San Sebastian, Spain, died September 17th, 1823), son of Tomas De Eslava and Maria Giron. He served in the Office of The Royal Treasurer at Mexico City, and in 1782 was transferred to Natchez, Mississippi, then a Spanish possession, where he purchased a home and land. He was retransferred to Mobile, in 1784, where he served as Royal Treasurer and Custom's Collector. Miguel served in the Spanish Colonial Militia and by 1802, had reached the rank, of Captain. He was described while living as a "tall soldierly man, without a beard and with auburn hair". He was fluent in Spanish, French, English and the Native American Mobilian Trade Jargon. These 4 languages we know he spoke because we have written record's attesting to the fact but although born in the Basque Country of Spain, there is no record of him being able to speak Basque or any mention of him ever using the language, so perhaps he did or perhaps he didn't, one thing is for certain, he seems to have had a "gift" for learning various languages, so the possibility is very strong that in the least he was a "passive bilingual" or a semi-speaker of Basque, as both his parent's were of Basque origin.

He eventually became a large landowner, in Alabama and married Hypolite Francoise Alexandre (born 1767, died January 30th, 1849), daughter of Jean Baptiste Alexandre Jr. (born 1734, son of Jean Baptiste Alexandre Sr. and Francoise Hypolite Baudin, 1716-1744) and Catalina Angelica Loisel (daughter of Pierre Paul Loisel and Marie De Nial).

Eslava Street, Eslava Lane, Eslava Creek, Eslava Creek Parkway, in Mobile, are all named after this family, as are Eslava Drive, in Foley, Alabama and Eslava Circle, in Lillian, Alabama. The Eslava surname originated in the Village of Eslava, Navarra, Spain and is Basque, in origin. Miguel and Hypolite are both buried in Church Street Cemetery, in the famous Eslava Tomb, in downtown Mobile, Alabama.

The Spanish Colonial Period, in Alabama left many imprint's, on Mobile and Baldwin Counties, including a handful, of legend's, one of which deals specifically, with Miguel Eslava. There are many descendants of Miguel and Hypolite in Mobile and Baldwin Counties both with the name Eslava and those who "daughtered out" the name, as well as other location's along the Gulf Coast and the United States. There are also collateral descendants of Miguel Eslava via his family, in both Spain and Cuba (and among Cuban Exiles). /// You can listen to the radio show episode I did on Miguel Eslava by clicking on this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rosales-history-of-the-south/2010/09/15/rosales-history-of-the-south-la-historia-del-sur-p, I hope you enjoy it.

Friday, July 9, 2010

This unit was composed mostly of Hispanic men, (including many Spaniard's and Cubans), as well as Italian's and a handful of French. This unit had existed prior to the war, as a local militia and was activated, for the defense of New Orleans, when the Civil War began, in 1861.

You can visit http://adf.ly/8ALVr and learn about the Cuba Libre Camp Project of the Admiral Semmes Camp 11, Sons of Confederate Veterans which is a project to identify all known Cuban Confederate Soldiers, as well as other Hispanics and Minorities who served in the Confederate Military.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

I welcome you to my new site. Here you can read articles on the History of The South from the Colonial Period to the Present and find some of my articles from my popular bi-lingual newspaper column "Rosales' History of The South / Historia Del Sur por Rosales", as well as alot of other information, on Southern History, Culture and Genealogy. The Southern History covered on this site will be from the following States : Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennesse, Texas, South Carolina and Virginia. I will be writing entries from all aspects of Southern History, so stop by often and visit.

About Me

My name is John ODonnell-Rosales. I am an "on again, off again" Adjunct History and Spanish Instructor, at various Gulf Coast Colleges and Universities, as well as a Professional Genealogist and Author of various books and articles dealing with Southern History and Cuba. // If you need assistance in finding or researching your Family History / Ancestor's, or if you would like to contact me about the "Passenger Pigeon Education and Photography Project" or for any other reason, you can email me at HistoryofTheSouth@Yahoo.Com, Thank You for stopping by and visiting the site. Copyright 2008-2014